Semiconductor production system

ABSTRACT

A semiconductor production system has a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having an exposure unit, a control unit for controlling the exposure unit and a storage device; a semiconductor inspection apparatus having an observation unit, a control unit for controlling the observation unit and a storage device; and a storage device commonly used by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and the semiconductor inspection apparatus. The manufacturing apparatus, the inspection apparatus and the commonly used storage device are interconnected via a storage area network. With the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and the storage device linked together via the storage area network, a large volume of image data or design data can be communicated at high speed, thus improving the system throughput.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates to a semiconductor productionsystem and more particularly to a semiconductor production systemlinking a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, an inspection apparatusand a storage device by using a storage area network.

[0002] A commonly used communication means for interconnecting apparatusis a LAN (local area network) described, for example, in Japanese PatentUnexamined Publication No. 2000-164667. Another system is also knownwhich, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No.9-153441 (corresponding to U.S. Pat. No. 5,867,389), divides a LAN intoa plurality of segments and installs a processing station between thedivided segments to copy data.

[0003] The storage area network is an independent network which isconstructed of only storages, devices for storing data, by separatingthe storages from a server. Examples of such storage area networksinclude those networks based on such links as a fiber channel (one ofserial interface standards) described in WO 00/18049 and WO 00/17769 andan optical fiber described in WO 00/2954. The storage area network is ageneral term for networks that link storage devices independently of thekind of communication devices used. A link of storage devices through aserial bus as defined in IEEE1394 and a link of storage devices througha switched bus as defined by InfiniBand (registered trade name) arestorage area networks. However, Ethernet which handles storage protocol,such as iSCSI (registered trade name) and SEP (SCSI EncapsulationProtocol), is the storage area networks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductorproduction system capable of transferring at high speed and storing alarge volume of image data or design data.

[0005] Another object of the present invention is provide asemiconductor production system capable of linking various informationin the semiconductor production system via network to improve systemthroughput.

[0006] In the conventional technologies described above, because twokinds of data, namely a large volume of CAD data representing designinformation on semiconductors and semiconductor masks and message datarepresenting control commands for controlling and linking a variety ofdevices are transferred on the same network without considering the kindof data flowing through the network, traffic inevitably increases,degrading the performance of the network, which in turn adverselyaffects the overall performance of the system. That is, the conventionalnetworks have a problem that the throughput of the networks changesaccording to the frequency of issuing the control command, the frequencyof generating a response to the command and the transmission/receptionof a large volume of data such as image data, thus degrading the overallperformance of the apparatus. As the advance of the micro-fabricationtechnology in particular drastically increases the volumes of the imagedata obtained as a result of inspection and of the CAD data representingthe design information on semiconductors and masks, the band of thenetwork is occupied by simply communicating these data. This adverselyaffects the transmission and reception of message data.

[0007] There is a technique that divides a LAN into a plurality ofsegments and installs processing stations between the segments toperform copying of data to alleviate the traffic. In this case, however,because the processing stations copy data between the segments, theprocessing stations themselves become a bottleneck of the overallperformance of the system. For example, if the inspection apparatus andmanufacturing apparatus are connected together via network, data must becopied via network in order to transfer data between these apparatus,thus crowding the network and lowering the throughput of the system as awhole. Further, it is also necessary to copy data between storagedevices connected to individual segments and this makes the consistencymanagement of copied data complicated.

[0008] The present invention has been accomplished in light of theabove-described problems.

[0009] To solve the problems above, the present invention adopts thefollowing means.

[0010] A semiconductor production system comprises: a semiconductormanufacturing apparatus having an exposure unit, a control unit forcontrolling the exposure unit and a storage device; a semiconductorinspection apparatus having an observation unit, a control unit forcontrolling the observation unit and a storage device; and a storagedevice commonly used by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus andthe semiconductor inspection apparatus; wherein the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus, the semiconductor inspection apparatus and thecommonly used storage device are linked together via a storage areanetwork. The semiconductor manufacturing apparatus can be used as anapparatus for making masks for fabricating semiconductors.

[0011] As described above, with this invention because the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus or storage devices are linked together via thestorage area network, a large volume of image data or design data can betransferred at high speed, improving the system throughput.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012]FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of asemiconductor production system as one embodiment of the-invention.

[0013]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another configuration of thesemiconductor production system.

[0014]FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing still another configuration ofthe semiconductor production system.

[0015]FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a further configuration of thesemiconductor production system.

[0016]FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a further configuration of thesemiconductor production system.

[0017]FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a sequence of operations by which asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus generates an inspection positionand a semiconductor inspection apparatus executes an inspection.

[0018]FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a sequence by which the semiconductorinspection apparatus generates an inspection position and executes aninspection.

[0019]FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a sequence by which a computerconnected to a storage area network generates an inspection position andthe semiconductor inspection apparatus executes an inspection.

[0020]FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a sequence for generating aninspection position based on information on divided areas of designinformation.

[0021]FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a sequence for generating aninspection position based on information on multiple processing causedby design information division.

[0022]FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a sequence for generating aninspection position based on information on correction processing.

[0023]FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a sequence for identifying a logiccorresponding to a faulty position based on information on the faultyposition found by the inspection apparatus.

[0024]FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example that simultaneouslydisplays inspection images of faulty positions.

[0025]FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example that displays link datafor retrieving a variety of information associated with semiconductormanufacturing.

[0026]FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example in which a variety ofinformation is stored in a physically single storage device.

[0027]FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example in which a variety ofinformation is stored in physically different storage devices.

[0028]FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example in which only the linkdata is stored independently.

[0029]FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example table which records acorrelation between an allowable range, an inspection result and aperformance of a final product in the inspection apparatus.

[0030]FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a sequence for estimating aperformance from the inspection result.

[0031]FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of thesemiconductor inspection apparatus.

[0032]FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor inspectionapparatus with its control unit connected to the storage area network.

[0033]FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor inspectionapparatus with a plurality of inspection processing apparatus connectedto the storage area network.

[0034]FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor inspectionapparatus when a fiber channel is employed as the storage area network.

[0035]FIG. 24 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[0036]FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor manufacturingapparatus with its control unit connected to the storage area network.

[0037]FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor manufacturingapparatus with a plurality of design information processing apparatusconnected to the storage area network.

[0038]FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing a plurality of semiconductormanufacturing apparatus connected to the storage area network.

[0039]FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a semiconductor manufacturingapparatus when a fiber channel is used as the storage area network anddedicated hardware is mounted in its control unit.

[0040]FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a sequence for seeking accuracy ofmanufacturing process by comparing shot information stored in a storagedevice with design information on which the shot information is based.

[0041]FIG. 30 is a diagram showing a sequence for estimating aprocessing time taken by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[0042]FIG. 31 is a diagram showing a sequence for displaying a presentprocessing position of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[0043]FIG. 32 is a diagram showing an example screen displaying apresent processing position of the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0044] Embodiments of the present invention will be described byreferring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 32. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing asemiconductor production system as one embodiment of-the presentinvention.

[0045] As shown in the figure, a storage area network 40 interconnects asemiconductor inspection apparatus 10, a semiconductor manufacturingapparatus 20 and a storage device 30. The semiconductor inspectionapparatus 10 and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 20 can alsobe interconnected via a general network 50. In this embodiment, theprovision of the storage area network 40 achieves a large-capacity datacommunication between the semiconductor inspection apparatus 10 and thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 20 without affecting the generalnetwork 50. Because the storage device 30 is shared by the semiconductorinspection apparatus 10 and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus20, data does not have to be copied between the apparatus, thusimproving the overall performance of the system and simplifying the datamanagement. It is noted that the manufacturing apparatus 20 can be usednot only for making semiconductors but also for making semiconductormasks and that the inspection apparatus 10 can be used not only forinspecting semiconductors but also for inspecting semiconductor masks.For the sake of simplicity, these apparatus will be explained as asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus and as a semiconductor inspectionapparatus in the following description.

[0046]FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating another configuration ofthe semiconductor production system. As shown in the figure, the storagearea network 40 interconnects a semiconductor inspection apparatus 10, asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 20 and a plurality of storagedevices 30. The storage area network 40 employs fiber channels 41 ascommunication devices and interconnects the fiber channels with a fabric42. The semiconductor inspection apparatus 10 and the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 20 are linked together via the general network50.

[0047] In the fabric 42 there are switches and a hub, both of whichsupport a hot plug. This allows additional storage devices 30 to beconnected dynamically to the storage area network 40 for extension.Because the fabric 42 allows a cascade connection, a further expansionis possible.

[0048] By connecting the fabrics using fiber channels, it is possible toarbitrarily select installation locations of the semiconductorinspection apparatus 10, the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 20and the storage devices 30. For example, the semiconductor inspectionapparatus 10 and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 20 may beinstalled at a manufacturing site and the storage device 30 at an officeor data center. With this arrangement, if the manufacturing site is hitby a natural disaster, because all the information associated with thesemiconductor inspection apparatus 10 and the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 20 installed at the manufacturing site is storedin the storage device 30, the recovery from damages will be easy. Theconfiguration using switches in the fabric 42 is identical to thoseusing the InfiniBand for the communication device. Hence, where there isno need for a long-distance communication through the fiber channels 41,the use of the InfiniBand can realize a compact system of the identicalconfiguration.

[0049]FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing still another configuration ofthe semiconductor production system. As shown in the figure, the storagearea network 40 interconnects a semiconductor inspection apparatus 10, asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 20 and a plurality of storagedevices 30. The storage area network 40 adopts fiber channels 41 as thecommunication device connecting the individual apparatus in loop. Thesemiconductor inspection apparatus 10 and the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus 20 are interconnected through the generalnetwork 50. This loop configuration does not require facilities such asfabrics but realizes a simple system that can be built only byconnecting fiber optics. This configuration facilitates maintenance andcan also achieve a system with duplicated loops easily.

[0050]FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a further configuration of thesemiconductor production system. As shown in the figure, the storagearea network 40 interconnects a semiconductor inspection apparatus 10, asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 20 and a plurality of storagedevices 30. The storage area network 40 connects them to thecommunication device in a tree topology according to the IEEE 1394-43.In this configuration, the inspection apparatus 10 or the manufacturingapparatus 20 is taken as a root of the tree. The semiconductorinspection apparatus 10 and the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus 20are connected together via the general network 50. The IEEE 1394supports the hot plug, so the storage devices can be dynamically addedto the storage area network for expansion.

[0051]FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a further configuration of thesemiconductor production system. As shown in the figure, the storagearea network 40 interconnects a semiconductor inspection apparatus 10, asemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 20, a plurality of storage devices30 and a computer 60. The semiconductor inspection apparatus 10, thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 20 and the computer 60 are linkedtogether via the general network 50. In this embodiment, the provisionof the storage area network 40 realizes a large-capacity datacommunication between the semiconductor inspection apparatus 10, thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 20 and the computer 60 withoutaffecting the general network 50. The storage device storing dataproduced in an upstream process such as logic design and the storagedevice storing data produced in an inspection and manufacturing processhave conventionally been separated, so that transfer of informationbetween the two processes is difficult to achieve. With this embodiment,however, there is no need to copy data since the storage devices 30 areshared. This improves the overall performance of the system andsimplifies the data management. Further, if a storage area network 40 isselected which can perform a long-distance communication, theinstallation locations of the semiconductor inspection apparatus 10, thesemiconductor manufacturing apparatus 20 and the computer 60 can be setwith flexibility.

[0052]FIG. 6 to FIG. 8 are diagrams showing inspection processing. FIG.6 illustrates a sequence of operations by which the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus generates an inspection position and thesemiconductor inspection apparatus executes an inspection accordingly.The manufacturing apparatus 20 first reads design information from thestorage device 30 (S10). Next, based on the design information read out,the manufacturing apparatus generates an inspection position orinspection area (S20). Then it writes the generated inspection positioninto the storage device 30 (S30). The written information serves as alog indicating the execution of the processing. Next, the inspectionapparatus 10 reads the inspection position from the storage device 30(S40) and executes an inspection according to the inspection positionretrieved (S50). By specifying the inspection position from a deviceexternal to the inspection apparatus 10 in this way, the load of theinspection apparatus can be alleviated to improve the performance of theinspection apparatus.

[0053]FIG. 7 illustrates a sequence of operations by which thesemiconductor inspection apparatus generates an inspection position andexecutes an inspection accordingly. First, the inspection apparatus 10reads design information from the storage device 30 (S100) and, based onthe design information read out, generates an inspection position orinspection area (Silo). Then, it writes the generated inspectionposition into the storage device 30 (S120). The written informationserves as a log indicating the execution of the processing. Next, theinspection apparatus reads the inspection position from the storagedevice 30 (S130) and executes an inspection according to the inspectionposition retrieved (S140).By generating the inspection positioninternally of the inspection apparatus 10 in this manner, the load ofother than the inspection apparatus can be alleviated.

[0054]FIG. 8 illustrates a sequence of operations by which the computerconnected to the storage area network generates an inspection positionand the semiconductor inspection apparatus executes an inspectionaccordingly. First, the computer 60 reads design information from thestorage device 30 (S200). Then, based on the design information readout, the computer 60 generates an inspection position or inspection area(S210). Next, it writes the generated inspection position into thestorage device 30 (S220). The written information serves as a logindicating the execution of the processing. Next, the inspectionapparatus 10 retrieves the inspection position from the storage device30 (S230) and executes an inspection according to the retrieved position(S240). Specifying the inspection position from a device external to theinspection apparatus 10 in this manner can reduce the load of theinspection apparatus and improve its performance.

[0055] Because the generation of an inspection position can be madeeither by the inspection apparatus 10, the manufacturing apparatus 20 orthe computer 60 separate from the two apparatus, as described above, itis possible to deal flexibly with the states of load of these apparatusand with any change in the inspection position generation method.

[0056]FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 illustrate operation sequences for generatingan inspection position. FIG. 9 shows a sequence for generating aninspection position based on information on divided areas of the designinformation. While the inspection position can be generated either bythe inspection apparatus 10, the manufacturing apparatus or the computer60, as shown in FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, this embodiment uses the manufacturingapparatus 20 in generating the inspection position.

[0057] First, the manufacturing apparatus 20 reads design information 71from the storage device 30 (S400). Next, because many manufacturingapparatus 20 cannot process an entire area of the retrieved designinformation at one time, the design information is divided into, forexample, stripes of divided information 72 (S410). Next, themanufacturing apparatus 20 extracts divided areas 73 including theboundaries between the divided information 72 (S420). There is apossibility that the divided areas 73 may include semiconductor cellsthat should have not been divided, such as transistors or other devices.Then, the divided cells are picked up (S430). Next, after the dividedcells are extracted, the positions or areas of the divided cells aredetermined. From the divided cells are prepared a list of inspectionpositions which is then written into the storage device 30 (S440). Bytaking as inspection positions those portions that are likely to beaffected by the division, the number of inspection positions can bereduced, improving the overall performance of the system.

[0058]FIG. 10 illustrates a sequence of operations for generating aninspection position based on information on multiple processing causedby design information division. As in FIG. 9, this sequence will beexplained in an example case where the manufacturing apparatus 20performs the sequence. First, the manufacturing apparatus 20 reads thedesign information 71 from the storage device 30 (S500). Manymanufacturing apparatus 20 cannot process the entire area of the designinformation at one time, so the design information is divided into, forexample, stripes of divided information 72 (S510). Next, divided areas73 including boundaries of the divided information are extracted (S520).The divided areas 73 may include wires that should not have beendivided. Because the divided wires are finally reconnected, the dividedwires are often processed multiple times based on the information onthose portions straddling the division. Therefore, the portions that aresubject to multiple processing are extracted based on the divided wires(S530). Next, after the portions subject to multiple processing areextracted, the positions or areas of the divided wires are determinedfrom the design information 71. From these positions a list ofinspection positions is prepared which is then written into the storagedevice 30 (S540). By taking as inspection positions those portions thatare likely to be affected by the multiple processing, it is possible toreduce the number of inspection positions and thereby improve theoverall performance of the system.

[0059]FIG. 11 shows a sequence of operations for generating aninspection position based on correction processing information. As inFIG. 9, this sequence will be explained in an example case where themanufacturing apparatus 20 executes the sequence. First, themanufacturing apparatus 20 reads design information 71 from the storagedevice 30 (S600). In the manufacturing apparatus 20 such as EB (electronbeam direct writing system), a physical phenomenon such as refractionoccurs due to the proximity effect of electron beams and therefore thewriting result is not what is intended by the design information 71 evenwhen the electron beam exposure is performed according to the designinformation. To deal with this problem Optical Proximity Correction(OPC) is carried out. There are two types of OPC, one based on rule andone based on simulation. This invention is not limited to a particularOPC method. Performing the OPC generates information 77 thatincorporates a correction pattern (S610). Because the design informationis often geometric data, the correction pattern can be determined byperforming geometric logic calculations on both the original designinformation 71 and the information 77 incorporating the correctionpattern. When the correction pattern is obtained, the position or areacan be determined from the design information 71. The positions thusobtained are written into the storage device 30 in the form of a list ofinspection positions (S630). By taking as inspection positions thoseportions that are likely to be affected by the correction processing, itis possible to reduce the number of inspection positions and thusimprove the overall performance of the system.

[0060]FIG. 12 shows a sequence of operations for identifying a logiccorresponding to a faulty position based on information on the faultyposition detected by the inspection apparatus. First, the inspectionapparatus 10 reads a faulty position written into the storage device 30(S700). Based on the faulty position, the inspection apparatus 10extracts the corresponding position of layout information (S710). Itthen extracts cells such as transistors based on the extracted layoutinformation (S720). The above steps are identical to the LVS (layoutversus schematic) that is executed by the existing layout verificationtool.

[0061] Next, a wire connected to the extracted cell is traced (S730).The same pattern as the traced pattern is searched from the logicinformation such as net list (S740). The logic information such as thenet list including the searched logic is extracted (S750).

[0062] In this embodiment an inspection can be performed retroactivelyfrom the logic generation step or upstream step in the semiconductormanufacturing process. This makes it possible to decide whether thefailure can be alleviated by changing the logic, thus improving theyield.

[0063]FIG. 13 shows an example case in which a screen displays aninspection image of a faulty location, layout information on the faultylocation, cell library information, cell device information, logicsymbols and a logic description at one time. In the figure, a screensimultaneously displays an actual image 100 observed by the inspectionapparatus 10, layout information 110 corresponding to the actual image,cell library information 120 present at the layout position, deviceinformation 130 in the cell library, a logic 140 corresponding to thedevice, and a logic description 150 by which the logic is formed.

[0064] There has been a technique which inspects a failure by displayingthe inspection image and the layout information in a superimposed state.The conventional technique, however, can only make decisions on failuresin such a way that impurities spanning the wires are considered asfaulty and that impurities not spanning the wires are considered notfaulty. On the other hand the present invention displays the logicinformation too, so if a wire failure is associated with a clock, forexample, this is considered to have grave effects on the system as awhole and is decided to be a failure. In this way the decision onfailure can be increased in severity.

[0065]FIG. 14 shows an example case in which individual kinds ofinformation associated with the semiconductor manufacturing are providedwith link data. In this embodiment, link data 200 is used which links astorage device ID for identifying a storage device 30 with an ID of theinformation itself. That is, the link data 200 is added to individualkinds of information so that requirement specification information 210,function specification information 220, logic information 230, cellinformation 240, layout information 250, mask/reticle information 260,writing information 270, and inspection result 280 can be associatedwith one another by the link data 200. Matching such link directionswith an actual manufacturing process allows the information link to beutilized as the log information in the manufacturing process.

[0066]FIG. 15 shows an example case in which different kinds ofinformation are stored in a physically single storage device. As shownin the figure, the requirement specification information 210, thefunction specification information 220, the logic information 230, thecell information 240, the layout information 250, the mask/reticleinformation 260, the writing information 270 and the inspection result280 are stored in one storage device 30. By storing all kinds ofinformation in one storage device 30, desired information can beaccessed quickly by tracing the link data 200.

[0067]FIG. 16 shows an example case where different kinds of informationare stored in physically different storage devices. As shown in thefigure, the requirement specification information 210, the functionspecification information 220, the logic information 230, the cellinformation 240, the layout information 250, the mask/reticleinformation 260, the writing information 270 and the inspection result280 are each stored in different storage devices 30. Storing differentkinds of information in different storage devices 30 can minimize apossible damage to the storage device 30 when compared with the storageconfiguration shown in FIG. 15.

[0068]FIG. 17 shows an example case where only the link data isindependently stored. Requirement specification information link data310, function specification information link data 320, logic informationlink data 330, cell information link data 340, layout information linkdata 350, mask/reticle information link data 360, writing informationlink data 370 and inspection result link data 380 are collected as anindependent link list to enable a faster access to desired informationthan with the search through the unidirection list of FIG. 14.

[0069]FIG. 18 shows an example table that records a correlation among anallowable range in inspection, an inspection result and a performance ofa final product. A correlation table 400 stores an allowable range 410specified during the inspection, an actually measured value 420 withinthe specified range, and a final performance of a product with theactually measured value 420, such as a clock frequency. Theabove-described items can be sorted and the actually measured values canbe classified into regions by performance level.

[0070]FIG. 19 shows a sequence for estimating a performance from theinspection result. First, the inspection apparatus 10 reads a measuredvalue written into the storage device 30 (S800) and, based on themeasured value thus read out, searches through the correlation table 400(S810). When the search result produces data that matches the measuredvalue 420, the inspection apparatus 10 reads a performance value 430corresponding to the data (S820). If no data matching the measured value420 is found, then a search is made in positive and negative directionsto find data close to the measured value 420 and retrieve twoapproximate values (S830). Performance values 430 corresponding to theseapproximate values are determined to calculate a performance value byinterpolation (S840). By estimating the performance from the inspectionresult of the inspection apparatus 10 in this way, the performance canbe estimated during the inspection process without actually evaluatingthe performance of the semiconductor product.

[0071]FIG. 20 to FIG. 23 are block diagrams showing semiconductorinspection apparatus as embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 20 isa block diagram showing an overall configuration. As shown in thefigure, the inspection apparatus 10 comprises an observation unit 12having an optical image sensing device and others and a control unit 14for controlling the observation unit. The observation unit 12 and thecontrol unit 14 are connected through the storage area network 40 to astorage device 30 outside the inspection apparatus, a storage device 31inside the inspection apparatus 10, and an apparatus 60 other than theinspection apparatus. This configuration allows the storage devices tobe shared among various apparatus.

[0072]FIG. 21 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor inspectionapparatus with its control unit connected to the storage area network.As shown in the figure, the inspection apparatus 10 comprises anobservation unit 12 having an optical image sensing device and othersand a control unit 14 for controlling the observation unit. The controlunit 14 is connected through the storage area network 40 to a storagedevice 30 outside the inspection apparatus, a storage device 31 insidethe inspection apparatus, and an apparatus 60 other than the inspectionapparatus. This configuration allows the control unit to access all thestorage devices inside or outside the apparatus.

[0073]FIG. 22 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor inspectionapparatus with a plurality of inspection processing appratus connectedto the storage area network. As shown in the figure, the inspectionapparatus 10 comprises an observation unit 12 having an optical imagesensing device and others and a control unit 14 for controlling theobservation unit. The observation unit 12 and the control unit 14 areconnected through the storage area network 40 to a storage device 30outside the inspection apparatus, a storage device 31 inside theinspection apparatus, and a plurality of inspection processing apparatus60. In this configuration, when image data obtained by the inspectionapparatus 10 is stored in the external storage device 30, a plurality ofinspection processing apparatus 60 can easily access the image datastored in the storage device 30, making it possible to easily realizeparallel inspection processing and thereby improve the overallperformance of the system. Further, because an inspection processingapparatus 60 can be added to or removed from the storage area network 40while the system is in operation, the configuration of the inspectionprocessing apparatus 60 can be modified according to variations in thesystem load.

[0074]FIG. 23 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor inspectionapparatus when a fiber channel is employed as the storage area network.As shown in the figure, inspection apparatus 10 comprises an observationunit 12 having an optical image sensing device and others and a controlunit 14 for controlling the observation unit. The observation unit 12and the control unit 14 are connected through the storage area network40 to a storage device 30 outside the inspection apparatus, a storagedevice 31 inside the inspection apparatus, and a plurality of inspectionprocessing apparatus 60. The storage area network 40 has a plurality offabrics 42, to each of which the units and apparatus are connected viafiber channels 41. The fabrics 42 are interconnected also by a fiberchannel 43. In this case, when the connections 43 between a plurality offabrics are replaced with WAN such as ATM, the inspection apparatus maybe installed in a clean room at the manufacturing site and theinspection processing apparatus in a remote office.

[0075]FIG. 24 and FIG. 25 are block diagrams showing semiconductormanufacturing apparatus as embodiments of this invention. FIG. 24 is ablock diagram showing an overall configuration of the system. As shownin the figure, the manufacturing apparatus 20 comprises an exposure unit22 having an optical exposure means or charged particle exposure means,and a control unit 24 for controlling the exposure unit. The exposureunit 22 and the control unit 24 are connected through the storage areanetwork 40 to a storage device 30 outside the manufacturing apparatus, astorage device 32 inside the manufacturing apparatus, and an apparatus60 other than the manufacturing apparatus 20. This configuration allowsthe storage devices to be shared among the units and apparatus.

[0076]FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor manufacturingapparatus with its control unit connected to the storage area network.As shown in the figure, the manufacturing apparatus 20 comprises anexposure unit 22 having an optical exposure means or charged particleexposure means, and a control unit 24 for controlling the exposure unit.The control unit 24 is connected through the storage area network 40 toa storage device 30 outside the manufacturing apparatus, a storagedevice 32 inside the manufacturing apparatus, and an apparatus 60 otherthan the manufacturing apparatus 20. This configuration allows thecontrol unit to access all the storage devices inside or outside themanufacturing apparatus.

[0077]FIG. 26 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor inspectionapparatus with a plurality of design information processing apparatus 60connected to the storage area network. As shown in the figure, themanufacturing apparatus 20 comprises an exposure unit 22 having anoptical exposure means or charged particle exposure means, and a controlunit 24 for controlling the exposure unit. The exposure unit 22 and thecontrol unit 24 are connected through the storage area network 40 to astorage device 30 outside the manufacturing apparatus, a storage device32 inside the manufacturing apparatus, and a plurality of designinformation processing apparatus 60. With this configuration, because aplurality of design information processing apparatus 60 can store in thestorage device 30 design information processed for use in themanufacturing apparatus 20, the parallel manufacture processing caneasily be realized, thus improving the overall performance of thesystem. A design information processing apparatus 60 can be added to orremoved from the storage area network while the system is in operation.Hence, when new design information processing is requested, anadditional design information processing apparatus can be added withouthalting the system, thus improving the system extension capability.

[0078]FIG. 27 is a block diagram showing an example case where aplurality of semiconductor manufacturing apparatus are connected to thestorage area network. As shown in the figure, a plurality ofmanufacturing apparatus 20 can access design information stored in thestorage device 30 via the storage area network. Therefore, for the samedesign information a plurality of manufacturing apparatus can parallellyexecute the manufacturing process at the same time, improving theoverall performance of the system.

[0079]FIG. 28 is a block diagram showing a semiconductor manufacturingapparatus when a fiber channel is adopted for the storage area networkand a dedicated hardware is used for the control unit. As shown in thefigure, the manufacturing apparatus 20 comprises an exposure unit 22having an optical exposure means or charged particle exposure means, anda control unit 24 for controlling the exposure unit. The exposure unit22 and the control unit 24 are connected through the storage areanetwork 40 to a storage device 30 outside the manufacturing apparatus, astorage device 32 inside the manufacturing apparatus, and a plurality ofdesign information processing apparatus 60. The storage area network 40has a plurality of fabrics 42, to which various units and apparatus areconnected by fiber channels 41. The fabrics 42 are interconnected alsoby the fiber channel 43. The control unit 24 comprises a BM (buffermemory) 25 for temporarily storing design information, a recovery unit26 for processing the design information for use in the control unit 24,a dividing unit 27 for dividing the data processed by the recovery unit26 into minimum geometric units such as rectangles, a proximitycorrection unit 28 for executing a proximity effect correction on theminimum geometric units divided by the dividing unit, and a shot unit 29for converting the data into shot information conforming to the exposureunit 22.

[0080] The conventional control unit 24 implemented with hardware is ablack box whose inner data cannot be accessed. With this embodiment,however, the data contained in the control unit 24 can be accessed viathe fiber channels. Hence, the correction result produced by theproximity correction unit 28 and the actual shot specificationinformation produced by the shot unit 29 can be retrieved and, based onthese information, new functions can be provided.

[0081]FIG. 29 shows a sequence of operations for determining theaccuracy of the manufacturing process by comparing the shot informationstored in the storage device with the design information from which theshot information has been derived. An example case where the sequence isapplied to the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 28 will beexplained.

[0082] First, the shot information stored in the storage device 30 orstorage device 32 (S900) is read out and, based on the shot informationread out, the writing pattern is recovered (S910). The shot informationis a set of minimum geometric units such as rectangles and the writingpattern can be recovered by performing interpolation between the unitgeometries. Next, design information is read out (S920). The formats ofthe writing pattern and the design information are often CAD data orvector data and, when the format of the design information differs fromthat of the writing pattern, it needs to be converted. Then, the writingpattern and the design information are compared (S930). When they agree,it is decided that the processing has been executed accurately (S940).When they disagree, it is decided that the processing was not accurate(S950). When they disagree, the location of disagreement is stored inthe storage device 30 so that the stored information may be used ascontrol data for a micro-fabrication machine using FIB (focused ionbeam) which is connected to the storage area network 40.

[0083]FIG. 30 shows a sequence for estimating a processing time taken bythe semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. First, the shot informationis read out from the storage device 30 (S1000). From the shotinformation thus read out, the number of shots is measured (S1010). Theshot information is a set of minimum geometric units such as rectangles,as described above, and the total of the geometric units represents thenumber of shots. The number of shots measured is multiplied by a shotstandard time taken by each minimum geometric unit of the manufacturingapparatus (S1020). If there are two or more kinds of minimum geometricunits and the shot standard time differs from one geometric unit kind toanother, the number of shots is measured for each kind of minimumgeometric unit and is multiplied by the shot standard time of eachminimum geometric unit kind. The multiplied values are summed up toestimate an accurate processing time.

[0084]FIG. 31 shows a sequence for displaying the present processingposition of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. First, presentshot information is read out from the storage device 30 (S1100). Fromthe shot information read out, shot position information is retrieved(S1110). Next, design information is retrieved from the storage device30 (S1120). Then, the design information and the shot positioninformation are combined (S1130). The resultant total is displayed(S1140).

[0085]FIG. 32 shows an example screen that displays the presentprocessing position of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. Asshown in the figure, a display screen 500 displays a layout writingpattern 510, which is design information, and shot information 520. Forthe layout writing area, the shot position is a very fine area. In orderto visualize the areas of shot information on the display screen 500,therefore, an area including the shot position in the area 530 displayedon the screen may be displayed magnified.

[0086] This invention discloses the following:

[0087] (1) A semiconductor production system comprising:

[0088] a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus having an exposure unit,a control unit for controlling the exposure unit and a storage device;

[0089] a semiconductor inspection apparatus having an observation unit,a control unit for controlling the observation unit and a storagedevice;

[0090] a storage device commonly used by the semiconductor manufacturingapparatus and the semiconductor inspection apparatus; and

[0091] a storage area network for interconnecting the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus, the semiconductor inspection apparatus and thecommonly used storage device.

[0092] (2) The semiconductor production system according to item (1),wherein the storage area network has a plurality of fabrics forswitching fiber channels.

[0093] (3) The semiconductor production system according to any one ofitems (1) to (2), wherein the commonly used storage device stores imagedata and design data.

[0094] (4) The semiconductor production system according to any one ofitems (1) to (3), wherein the semiconductor manufacturing apparatusmanufactures semiconductors or masks for fabricating the semiconductors.

[0095] (5) The semiconductor production system according to any one ofitems (1) to (4), wherein, based on the design data, the semiconductormanufacturing apparatus generates information on an inspection positionat which the semiconductor inspection apparatus performs inspection.

[0096] (6) The semiconductor production system according to any one ofitems (1) to (5), wherein the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus hasa means for calculating accuracy of a manufacturing process by comparingthe design data with shot information, the shot information representinga writing pattern generated based on the design data.

[0097] (7) The semiconductor production system according to any one ofitems (1) to (6), wherein the semiconductor inspection apparatusexecutes an inspection based on inspection position informationgenerated by the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus or inspectionposition information generated by itself, and generates failure positioninformation representing a failure position.

[0098] (8) The semiconductor production system according to item (7),wherein, based on the failure position information, the system extractsfrom the storage device layout information corresponding to an actualimage observed by the inspection apparatus and extracts semiconductorcircuit logic information based on the extracted layout information.

[0099] (9) The semiconductor production system according to any one ofitems (7) to (8), wherein the semiconductor inspection apparatusdisplays an inspection result on a screen.

[0100] (10) The semiconductor production system according to any one ofitems (1) to (9), wherein the storage area network has a computer togenerate the inspection position to reduce a burden on the semiconductorinspection apparatus or the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[0101] (11) The semiconductor production system according to item (2),wherein the plurality of fabrics are interconnected by WAN.

[0102] (12) The semiconductor production system according to any one ofitems (1) to (11), wherein the storage area network stores a requirementspecification of a semiconductor device to be manufactured, informationrepresenting the inspection result, and link information linking theseinformation with an ID of a storage device in which these information isstored.

[0103] (13) The semiconductor production system according to any one ofitems (1) to (12), wherein the storage area network has a display devicefor calculating and displaying a processing time or processing positionof the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.

[0104] (14) The semiconductor production system according to any one ofitems (1) to (13), wherein the storage area network has an estimatingmeans for estimating a performance of a semiconductor device from theinspection result of the semiconductor inspection apparatus.

What is claimed is:
 1. A semiconductor production system comprising: astorage device storing design information; an exposure unit; a controlunit controlling said exposure unit; and a storage area networkconnected with said storage device and said control unit.
 2. Asemiconductor production system according to claim 1, wherein saidcontrol unit has a shot unit converting information read from saidstorage device into shot information conforming to said exposure unit.3. A semiconductor production system according to claim 1, wherein saidcontrol unit comprises: a buffer memory temporarily storing saidinformation read from said storage device; a recovery unit processingsaid information; a dividing unit dividing said information processed bysaid recovery unit; a proximity effect correction unit executing aproximity effect correction between said divided information; and a shotunit converting said information subjected to said proximity effectcorrection into shot information conforming to said exposure unit.
 4. Asemiconductor production system according to claim 1, wherein saidstorage device stores requirement specification information, functionspecification information, logic information, cell information, layoutinformation, mask/reticle information, and writing information.
 5. Asemiconductor production system comprising: a semiconductormanufacturing apparatus having a first storage device, an exposure unit,and a control unit controlling said exposure unit; a second storagedevice storing design information; and a storage area network connectedwith said second storage device, said first storage device providedwithin said semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and said control unit.6. A semiconductor production system according to claim 5, wherein saidcontrol unit has a shot unit converting information read from said firststorage device or said second storage device into shot informationconforming to said exposure unit.
 7. A semiconductor production systemaccording to claim 5, wherein said control unit comprises: a recoveryunit processing information read out from said first storage device orsaid second storage device; a dividing unit dividing said informationprocessed by said recovery unit; a proximity effect correction unitexecuting a proximity effect correction between said dividedinformation; and a shot unit converting said information subjected tosaid proximity effect correction by said proximity correction unit, intoshot information conforming to said exposure unit.
 8. A semiconductorproduction system according to claim 5, wherein said storage storesdevice requirement specification information, function specificationinformation, logic information, cell information, layout information,mask-reticle information, and writing information.
 9. A semiconductorproduction system according to claim 5, wherein said layout informationis stored in said first storage device, and said writing informationprocessing said design information is stored in said second storagedevice.